A man has been found guilty of murdering a father-of-seven Seyed Khan with a metal axe, before using a shopping trolley to dump the body in a cemetery.

Imran Muhammad, 31, attacked and killed his colleague in their place of work on Wednesday, 24 January at the A-Z furniture and Carpets Shop in Ilford.

Mr Khan had been looking after the shop in the absence of a friend.

Just four days before the attack Muhammad had been searching on his phone terms such as 'how to kill a man with a hammer' and 'how to kill a man with a punch'.

Imran Muhammed was found guilty of murder at the Old Bailey

Muhammad attempted to cover up the murder by painting over blood stains in the shop and even called the shop owner to tell him he was worried about Mr Khan, claiming he had visited earlier and left his car outside.

CCTV footage, which was subsequently gathered as part of the investigation, showed Seyed parking his car in the street outside the shop and entering the premises at around 6pm, but he was not seen alive again.

The shutters on the shop were seen to come down and the internal lights turned off.

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Having returned to the shop, Muhammad disposed of a number of items in bins situated at the rear of the premises. He attempted to clean up the area where he had attacked Seyed by repainting an interior wall where blood marks had been left.

Muhammad even made a call to the owner of the shop in an attempt to deflect attention away from him, pretending he was concerned for Seyed's welfare. He concocted a story that Seyed had turned up at work the previous evening and then left the shop to take a phone call after which he did not return.

On the morning of 25 January, Seyed's family - concerned that they could not contact him - raised the alarm and contacted police. He was initially treated as a missing person.

Later that morning, friends and family members of Seyed went to the shop to try and trace his movements and spoke to Muhammad. He reiterated the story that Seyed had left the shop and not returned.

After speaking to the family, Muhammad left the shop and he travelled to Victoria Coach Station and fled on a coach to Glasgow.

Devil Kharran, from the CPS, said: "This was a brutal and premeditated attack on a hardworking family man. Imran Muhammad went out of his way to cover his tracks. After murdering Mr Khan he painted over bloodstains in the shop and also called the police claiming to have been robbed and injured by a stranger, leading to him being taken to hospital.

Muhammad told police he had been robbed and injured by a stranger

"In the days that followed police put out numerous appeals in search for Mr Khan while all along Muhammad knew that he had murdered him. It was eight days until Mr Khan’s body was found and by that time Muhammad had fled to Glasgow.

"I hope this conviction brings some closure to the family and friends of Mr Khan."

Seyed Khan was described as a 'hardworking family man'

Muhammad had previously admitted perverting the course of justice. He will now be sentenced at the Old Bailey tomorrow.

Detective Inspector Domenica Catino of the Homicide and Major Crime Command led the investigation into the murder. She said: "I am pleased that the jury has seen straight through Imran Muhammad 's feeble lies as he attempted to deflect the blame from himself and have found him guilty of this horrific murder.

"From the outset, he has chosen to try and cover his tracks rather than refuse to accept responsibility for his actions - this included brazenly lying to Seyed's family who he knew were desperately worried about him.

"Seyed was a hard-working, family man who strived to provide for his wife and children. In the cruellest of circumstances he has been taken away from his family by the selfish actions of a cowardly man."

Seyed's oldest son Khalil Khan said: "My dad was a kind, loving and caring man who would always put others before himself. His death has had a huge impact on our lives, which have now changed forever.

"We had such a happy, caring and joyful family. This has now been destroyed forever by an awful, heartless act that none of us deserved. We have been left with a void in our lives that can never be filled. We all miss him so much."